Life around the world

Tuesday, 1 March, 2016 - 16:54

A trip to Cambridge

by CatrionaL

I have just arrived back in France after a short trip to England to spend a few days with my family and to meet my niece Elsie who was born a few weeks (she is tiny and adorable).

Whilst I was at home I was lucky enough to have time to go and visit one of my favourite cities, Cambridge, which is only an hour and a half from my home city of Norwich. Cambridge is a beautiful old city filled with grand and elegant sandstone buildings and the river Cam that runs through the centre is the perfect place to go for a picnic in the summer. Punting is one of the famous activities that you can do in Cambridge; it is a small boat that takes you up and down the river. The punt seats 4-8 people and is moved by a large wooden stick that you push in the water to direct the boat. It is definitely a workout for the person moving the boat. The UK has many famous and excellent universities such as the University of Oxford, St Andrews University and Kings College London.

The University of Cambridge is one the oldest universities in the UK (it was founded in 1209) and it is very a prestigious (important) university and many students aspire to study here. It is very hard to gain a place there and you have to work very hard if you are a student there. The University of Cambridge is split into different colleges, there are 31 in total, each college has its own building where the students live, eat and study. There are lots of formal dinners and the students where a special long black robe to these dinners. Cambridge is a very traditional university and is an important part of British history. Being a student here is considered a great honour. Lots of famous people in Britain went to the University of Cambridge, for example: Prince Charles, Emma Thompson (actress) and Stephen Hawking (famous author of A Brief History of Time). 

I study at Royal Holloway University of London which is very different from Cambridge. It is a university campus which means all the buildings are in the same place; in Cambridge they are spread out across the city, lots of people ride bikes to get around. You don’t go far without seeing a bike in Cambridge. I always love visiting Cambridge as it feels like stepping back in time. 

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Do you think you would like to be a student in Cambridge?

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